Black Spade A

A small hot pot restaurant in District 9 was bustling with activity.

Dozens of men equipped with various mechanical limbs stood guard outside the door, divided into three groups.

They chatted happily, seemingly quite familiar with each other.

Inside the door, three people sat around a table with a hot pot in front of them. The water was boiling and making a bubbling sound.

A short, middle-aged man emerged from the kitchen carrying two plates of sliced meat, his face glistening with oil. He wore two white arm sleeves, which were stained with grease. "Enjoy your meal, everyone. I'll keep slicing meat for you in the kitchen. You can have as much as you want."

Of the three people at the table, one coldly asked, "You didn't try to disgust us with some pork belly, did you?"

"How could I! You three are all bosses of local gangs, I can't fool you," the hot pot restaurant owner hurriedly said. "The meat I cut for you is all real mutton, I got it from the Fourth District."

"That's more like it."

After the boss went into the kitchen, the owner of the "I Want To Buy A Watch" club said, "Have you heard about that weird club lately?"

"You mean that Art Troupe? They had a big chorus performance this afternoon, and it was a disaster," the owner of the Great Hammer Society said, taking a bite of mutton. "They'd rather not run a perfectly good club than play the role of a philanthropist, building elevators and plumbing for the slums. Do those pigs even need plumbing and elevators?"

"That's not quite right," the Meteor Hammer gang leader said. "Dozens of households moved out of my building in just one day, and there's always more to come." He continued, "That means we'll be receiving tens of thousands less in protection money each month, and we might even lose hundreds of thousands..."

"What's there to be afraid of? How many rooms are there in a Dove Cage building? Can our people possibly run them all?"

"That's true. Right now, our most pressing issue isn't dealing with this Art Troupe, but rather how to explain things to our superiors."

"The higher-ups are so fickle. They clearly said they only needed eight people, but when they couldn't keep up with the demands, they asked us to hand over thirty. Where are we supposed to find thirty people for them? Are we supposed to hand ourselves over?" the boss of the Great Hammer Society said with a gloomy expression.

Actually, the PCE's requirements were quite simple: just arrest a bunch of people to fill the quota and show they'd actually done their job. "Look how many criminals I've arrested." But not finding the killer wasn't my fault; after all, that's someone capable of killing A-level individuals. Our department is truly incompetent.

Over the years, PCE has always gotten by in this way, using merits to offset demerits.

However, this incident was far too serious, and the previous results were simply not enough. Therefore, the PCE Public Security Management Committee issued new targets in the afternoon.

Just then, the owner of the I Want To Buy A Watch club suddenly said, "Why don't we hand over the Art Troupe? I heard they only have a little over a hundred people, wouldn't that be just enough?"

"Hmm, this is interesting, but the problem is, will we suffer any casualties?" asked the boss of the Meteor Hammer gang.

"What harm could a bunch of choir members do to us? We've never seen them use firearms before. Taking them out has two benefits: we'll complete our mission, and we'll eliminate this outcast."

The three of them discussed it and it seemed like a good idea. "When should we make our move?"

"There's no time like the present, let's do it at 4 a. m. tonight."

At this very moment, two young men are standing silently in front of the Dove Cage building.

They were bundled up tightly, observing everything before them with great interest.

They were wearing gray canvas jackets, which had been washed until they were white.

At one point, they didn't seem like city dwellers; they were more like Wilderness People.

"Boss, I only heard about this Art Troupe this afternoon. The residents of District 9 say they're different from other clubs. What do you think?" one of the young men said in a low voice.

The person next to him frowned. "A lotus flower growing from the mud—something's definitely fishy. Maybe it's just another exploitative tactic by those gangs. Did you rent this room?"

"Yes, I've rented it. Rooms here are in high demand right now, and I had to pay a high price to sublet it from someone else."

Xu Linsen Black Spade A, was taken aback. "Fully rented out?"

"Yes, it's definitely full, but some people haven't had time to move in yet," Jiang Mubei of Black Spade 4 said. "Boss, Yang Yang asked us to come over, saying we should observe the future changes in this city, it will definitely be of reference value. I don't know what she's referring to, or if she said anything else?"

"She said she would come over after she finished the parade in City No. 10, and that someone she trusted would do something here so that we could learn from them," Xu Linsen said calmly.

"Study?" Jiang Mubei was taken aback. Spade was already a relatively mature organization. The parades they organized in various parts of the Federation had achieved initial results and had a strong influence.

Yang Yang said to let them learn from it, and her tone was quite unusual.

What kind of person is this, and what are they doing in City 22 that would make Black Spade A come all the way here to learn from them?

Jiang Mubei laughed, "Right now, in the entire Federation, of all the organizations that wanted to change the Federation, only we have succeeded. Who else can we learn from?"

Xu Linsen glanced at him. "She was talking about studying, Xiao Bei. Learning humility is a good virtue. Maybe that person has some extraordinary talent. However, she said she didn't know what the other person was planning to do, but they would definitely make some noise. She said... that person is someone who can always create miracles and surprises."

"But if that's the case, we'll miss the New Year's festival at the fire pit," Jiang Mubei sighed. "The key is, we don't even know where that person is or who they are. We might as well use this time to organize a student parade in City 22."

"Humble, Xiao Bei! Stay here for now. Anyway, the Great Elder isn't at the fire pit. I heard he was conscripted by Li Shutong again," Xu Linsen said.

Jiang Mubei grabbed Xu Linsen: "Boss, that word again, don't let the Great Elder hear it..."

At this moment, Xu Linsen asked suspiciously, "By the way, Xiao Bei, could the person Yang Yang mentioned be Bai Zhou? They seem to have a pretty good relationship."

Jiang Mubei hesitated for a moment. "Bai Zhou has such a close relationship with the conglomerate, and its own strength is still very weak. What can it do here? City 22 is not their home ground either."

Xu Linsen thought for a moment and said, "Let's see, maybe we'll see something different."

At this moment, the two stepped into the Dove Cage. As soon as they entered the building, they saw a person wearing a red armband sitting at the door with a table on it, with a notebook and pen on it.

The young man behind the table looked up at the two of them. "Where are you from? What do you do? Do you have any history of infectious diseases? Are you carrying any weapons? Which room do you live in? Show me your rental contract."

This series of questions left Xu Linsen and Jiang Mubei completely stunned.

What is all this nonsense? Do Art Troupe really have such a big say?!

Jiang Mubei thought for a moment and replied, "We are outsiders, unemployed, have no history of infectious diseases, brought two handguns, and live in room 4403. Here is our lease agreement."

Jiang Mubei looked up and saw that there was a camera pointing directly at them from above.

But since Xu Linsen didn't say anything, he didn't say anything either.

After registering them, the young man handed them a leaflet. "The rules of this building are all here. No stealing or robbing, no bullying the elderly, women, or children, and no fighting. If you are caught, we will hang you in front of the building as a warning. Understand?"

Jiang Mubei raised an eyebrow, and Xu Linsen smiled and said, "I understand, thank you."

At this moment, Qing Chen walked past them. He had played quite aggressively today, knocking everyone out at the dinner table beforehand.

However, as he passed by Xu Linsen, he suddenly paused in surprise...

He knew Xu Linsen; after all, he had imitated him in Prison No. 18, causing Guo Huzhan, that bald guy, to get beaten up for protecting the health manual for middle-aged and elderly people.

Why did the Spade guy suddenly come to Dove Cage?

Qing Chen walked into the elevator without showing any emotion. Jiang Mubei asked the young man behind the table, "Why was he allowed to go in directly?"

The young man said casually, "This is a long-time resident. By the way, the brochure has the phone number and group chat for our Art Troupe office. Join us and you can contact us if you have any problems. Here, the Art Troupe is definitely more useful than PCE. Oh, and after joining the group chat, look for Xiao Mengqian in the group. He'll tell you where to eat and where to have fun around here."

"Thank you," Jiang Mubei said, somewhat puzzled. This club didn't seem like a club at all; the service was far too attentive.

As they spoke, Xu Linsen and Jiang Mubei entered the elevator and ascended to the 44th floor with Qing Chen.

"Young man, you've lived here for a long time. What do you think of that Art Troupe?" Xu Linsen asked.

Qing Chen glanced at them and said, "It's fine."

Upon reaching the 44th floor, Qing Chen stepped out of the elevator first, and heard Jiang Mubei behind him exclaim, "This building is so clean! This is the cleanest residential building I've ever seen in the Lower Three Districts. Boss, look, there's not a single bug in it. What exactly does this Art Troupe do?"

This Black Spade 4 looks like a country bumpkin visiting the city; his face practically screams "I've never seen anything like this before."

On the edge of the city, Zhang Mengqian, along with Luo Wanyai and Xiao Qi, carefully made their way through the shadows of the buildings.

The entire District 9, except for the Dove Cage, was dark.

This has provided some unexpected conveniences for those living in the shadows.

"This is it," Zhang Mengqian stopped at a sewage outlet. "This pipe is about 0.6 meters in diameter. It looks inconspicuous, but it actually leads out of the city. It's about 4 or 5 kilometers long. I only discovered it by chance. However, if you want to get out from here, you'll have to crawl through sewage for at least 5 kilometers. Are you sure you want to get out from here?"

Crawling for 5 kilometers through stinking water, this is a route even criminals in District 9 wouldn't want to take.

Because it requires enduring long periods of darkness and stench, it is also a great test of physical strength.

Walking five kilometers and crawling five kilometers are completely different physical exertions.

Most importantly, Luo Wanyai's status is now different from before, and his strength has also been raised to C-Class under the special care of Li Tongyun, Nan Gengchen, and Liu Dezhu.

Would such a powerful figure willingly climb such a sewage ditch?

Luo Wanyai took off his coat and laughed, "It is indeed a bit disgusting, but if you can't endure this hardship, you're not worthy of working for the boss. Little guy, you don't know what kind of ruthless person our boss is. Compared to the hardships he endures, this drainage ditch is nothing. Compared to what he has to do, my little bit of hardship is nothing. Xiao Qi, you wait for me here. Kill all suspicious people who approach."